Intermission
by MyPalletshippingLove
Summary: Palletshipping. (Gary's POV). 17-year old Gary Oak is a scientist trying to dig into Pokémon evolution's secrets, he has the best friend in the whole world and a secret crush on a very special childhood friend. After Ash returns home from the Kalos League to stay for a couple of days before heading to Alola, Gary finds himself fighting between logic and his own feelings.
1. Chapter 1

**Intermission – Chapter 1**

I see my life flashing before my own eyes and I think to myself: "this is it". It's inevitable, this place will explode and I won't survive harmless… I won't even survive. Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating things, I'm in my grandpa's lab and some reaction I was carrying on a beaker just got out of control but it's not like the whole place is about to explode, just about a square meter around the reaction area.

My name is Gary Oak; I am 17 years old and I am a Pokémon Researcher. I'm currently working at my grandpa's lab, you probably have heard of the great Samuel Oak (Professor Oak for short), yes; I am his grandson. However, I don't really study the same things he does, his studies mostly focus on how humans and Pokémon interact with each other while mine focus on Pokémon evolution.

Then you may wonder what the hell I was doing carrying a chemical reaction (that had just exploded seconds ago) in the lab. Well, my idea is this: you can synthesize evolution rocks; yeah, you may think I'm the craziest fella in the planet for thinking that, but hey! It may be true.

Just as I was taking the adsorbent for cleaning the mess I had just made, someone got in the lab (I had been alone the whole time by the way).

"Hey Gary, whoa! What just happened?" Tracey entered the lab and freaked out when he saw the fire consuming everything (ok, just the square meter I told you… and not fire, just some smoke).

"You know how explosive these reactions can be" I proceeded to clean up everything… and yes, this was not the first time something like this had happened yet I was delighted how Tracey always acted so surprised and asked the same questions.

Tracey has been working here with my grandpa for a couple of years and we eventually became best friends (because he literally lives here and well, I don't really go out much except for the times I have been to Sinnoh to study with Professor Rowan). I trust him with my life and he trusts me with his… for instance he knows everything about me and vice versa. I still smile when I remember the night I told him my biggest secret.

We were sitting in the grass of the backyard; it was a cloudy night of December.

"Is that your biggest secret?" he laughed after I told him.

"Well yeah" I smiled a little relived to see him take it that way.

"Dude, I thought you had killed somebody, you were so serious about it" he couldn't control his laughter.

"Thank you, Tracey" I kept smiling.

Back to the present day, do you remember the explosion? Now the lab was completely on fire. Alright, I just cleaned that mess completely.

"What are your plans for today?" Tracey asked while walking to his computer.

"Nothing much, gonna give it another try to this reaction to see if next time it destroys the lab."

He laughed, he always found my sarcastic comments so funny, I guess that was something that made us best friends faster.

"What about you?" I asked curiously while putting some reactants on a clean beaker.

"I'll head to Cerulean City this afternoon; I'll probably spend the night there" he said casually though I know he was dying of excitement inside.

Tracey's girlfriend, Misty, lives in Cerulean City and he visits her once or twice a week (she comes to Pallet Town once or twice but not weekly, monthly). I'm happy for Tracey, he had a crush on her since they traveled together to the Orange Islands and last year he finally decided to confess his feeling to her… and it was an amazing night (according to what Tracey told me, don't think I eavesdropped on them or anything like that).

"Yeah, you will definitely spend the night there" I teased him.

"Why don't you come? It's been three months since the last time you visited, you need to get out of the lab for a change and have a walk along the beach" this was something he would tell me every time he went to Cerulean and I appreciated the effort but I was not definitely in the mood of leaving Pallet Town, not even leaving the lab.

"Thanks, but I'm really busy here."

Tracey knew me and I he knew he didn't have to insist because I would not change my mind, so he just changed the topic.

"Have you seen your grandfather? I didn't see him on my way from the mansion to the lab" he said and honestly, I had no idea where my gramps was. I've been here since very early in the morning and if he went out, I didn't listen to the sound of door open.

"Not really, maybe he just went to visit Miss Ketchum."

"Ketchum, huh?"

I knew where this was going and I didn't like it.

"Shut up!" I exclaimed before he even said anything else.

"What?" he laughed, teasing me again in silence.

"I'll just… I need some fresh air" I said and I went out of the lab to the backyard of the mansion.

Ok, you may be wondering what just happened there. Tracey emphasized the Ketchum… it turns out Miss Ketchum has a son, his name is Ash, yeah, Ash Ketchum; I'm not going to focus on why he has the same last name as his mother but you may draw some conclusions… the thing is, that's part of the secret I told Tracey the other night.

"So, is there someone you particularly like?" Tracey asked me after all the laughing.

"Yeah" I blushed, something I didn't do much around people but somehow, I knew I'd be doing that around Tracey a lot of times in the future that followed.

"Well?" he sounded really curious as if he had no idea… well, maybe he had no idea.

"You know him" I sighed.

"I know him?" now he sounded extremely curious.

"Yeah."

"C'mon dude, just spill it out!"

"Ketchum."

"Say what?" he stood up and looked at me all amazed.

Now my face was entirely red.

"That's awesome dude, Ash is totally a catch!" he said with a lot of excitement.

"Could you not make a big deal out of it, please?"

"Sorry, it's just that… this is so big, dude!"

"I haven't even seen him for two years, am I pathetic or what?" I said with a sarcastic laugh.

This was not one of the sarcastic comments I made that got Tracey cracked up.

"Don't say that" he sat down again and put his arm around me and I know he was going to lecture me about how love can seem impossible but in the end, if you have faith, it can work out for you.

There I was looking up to the sky, wondering where he was. It had been a week since the Kalos League ended. Maybe he had come to Pallet Town a couple of days ago and just left today; I mean, there had been other leagues before and he hadn't had the courtesy to at least come by and say hello to me, that was something that hurt me way too much.

"I'm sorry, Gary" Tracey said getting out of the lab.

I didn't turn to face him; I didn't want him to see me like this even though he had seen me like this a lot of times before.

"It's going to be ok, dude" he said with optimism.

I finally turned to face him, my face all wet and my eyes red. I didn't say anything; he knew why I was crying and he also knew that what I most needed then was a hug.

So, he hugged me and I cried on his shoulder until my eyes dried out.

I don't know how many minutes passed, ten? Twenty? Half hour? But suddenly we heard the mansion main door open, we knew it was my grandpa. My eyes were still red so I turned to face the lab while Tracey went to the mansion to entertain gramps until I was feeling better… but gramps went out to the backyard too soon.

"Ash just got to Pallet Town this morning" he said with enthusiasm "and he wants to see you guys."


	2. Chapter 2

**Intermission – Chapter 2**

He wanted to see us? He wanted to see me? I'm sure gramps misunderstood things, Ash probably just asked how Tracey and I were; so, I ignored gramps and went back to the lab.

"Gary?" he asked me but as I said, I ignored him; my eyes were wet again.

I shut the door to the lab and closed it. I knew Tracey would come up with something to explain my behavior to my grandpa, after all, he always got me out of this like this (not that these things happened regularly but I was emotionally unstable at the time).

So, Ash wanted to see me again, huh? After 3 years of not seeing each other. I wondered what he looked like now, I mean, I had seen his Kalos League battles on TV but it was TV, I wondered what he looked like now in person, was he taller? Was his skin darker? Were his lips more irresistible than before?

All these thoughts in my head made the idea of seeing him again seem like a terrible mistake. I'm sure Ash was definitely hotter now and I wasn't going to be able to resist him. Maybe it was for the best not to see him again.

So, eventually, Tracey got into the lab using his keys but he was alone so I assumed he got rid of gramps for now.

"I told him you and I had a fight" Tracey said entering the lab.

"Thanks."

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"You know I'm not" I said as I sat down on the floor.

"He wants to see you, Gary" he smiled trying to cheer me up and he sat down next to me.

"I'm not sure of that."

"C'mon, don't be so negative! Let's head to the Ketchum residence and say hi!"

"That's a terrible idea" I laughed.

"Dude, please; I just called Misty and told her Ash was here so she's coming to stay this weekend."

"You did what?" I asked completely shocked.

"If I can't make you go to Ash, she will help me make you go to Ash" Tracey said with a determination I had never seen in him before.

"You're crazy!" I stood up, angry, mad.

"Maybe I am, but you're in love and you don't want to do anything about it!" he stood up. Now it sounded like we were fighting.

"He's not even gay!" I shouted as I kept crying.

"You can't know that unless you try!"

"He's not! That's the thing! It doesn't matter if I try! It doesn't freaking matter!"

"Why do you have to be so negative about this?" he asked and I knew he was disappointed of me.

"I'm being realist, Tracey."

"Why do you have to be so cruel on yourself? When I wasn't sure whether to ask Misty out, you told me all these things about being optimistic and that she might feel the same about me… why can't you say all those things to yourself right now?"

"Because I don't want to get hurt" my eyes redden even more than before.

"You're not being fair to yourself, Gary; you don't deserve to treat you like you do" he said as he got out of the lab. Now it wasn't completely a lie what he told gramps about we having had a fight.

I didn't see Tracey the rest of the morning, I didn't get out of the lab. There were some more explosions (the reaction ones and maybe one or two that came from my heart). He wanted to see me, I should have been happy about it, but I wasn't.

At one moment, I just couldn't handle it anymore and I went to my room in the third floor of the mansion. I went straight to bed and I instantly fell asleep.

"Okay, we have to get you out of here!" a girl's voice exclaimed opening the door of my room.

"Misty?" I asked still sleepy.

"That's right, mister!" she exclaimed getting me out of bed by pulling my feet.

"Tracey! Why did you bring her in here?" I asked from the floor as he entered my room.

"I told you that we would get you to Ash" he laughed.

Misty eventually knew about my feelings for Ash and she supported me as much as Tracey, however her methods were a little more drastic, like getting me out of bed by pulling my feet.

"Miss Ketchum is organizing a dinner tonight at the Ketchum residence to welcome Ash from his journey and we're all going" Misty said.

"A dinner? Tonight?" I asked surprised as I stood up.

"We're going to make you look so hot Ash is not going to resist you" Misty said with a smile on her face.

"What the hell did you just say?" I laughed, now feeling a little better.

I have to confess, the idea of that dinner just made me feel more excited to see Ash again, plus I'd get to taste Miss Ketchum's delicious food!

"We have to get you some new clothes" Misty said after opening my closet.

"Hey! That's private!" I blushed when she opened the drawer where I kept my underwear.

"You definitely need new clothes" she laughed "let's go!" she took my hand and got me out of my room.

"My shoes!" I exclaimed.

"You need new shoes too!"

"I'll get them" Tracey laughed entering my room.

I felt kidnapped. As we got out of the mansion, Misty threw me into the backseats of her car as she and Tracey took the pilot and co-pilot seats.

"Where are we going?" I asked scared.

"To Viridian City" she said turning the engine on.

That was it, I knew I couldn't do anything to escape, Misty and Tracey were definitely going to help me buy some new clothes to wear that night at the Ketchum residence, I was so nervous!

Viridian City was near Pallet Town, it was about 20 minutes by car, so we got there quickly.

"I don't really need a lot of clothes, just what I will wear tonight" I said before getting out of the car.

"Honey, you need a full change of wardrobe! You got nothing but lab coats!" Misty exclaimed.

"That's because that's all I ever use!"

"Ain't that sad?" she laughed.

"Hey! Don't take it on my lab coats!"

I still remember when I told Misty about my feelings for Ash about eight months ago, I loved her reaction.

Misty had visited us (well, Tracey) at Pallet Town so she was staying in the Oak's mansion for a couple of days. That night I wasn't able to sleep, so I went to the backyard and sat on the grass (does that sound familiar to you?).

It didn't take much time until Misty joined me, she couldn't sleep either.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked getting out of the kitchen and into the backyard.

"Can't sleep?"

"Not at all" she smiled and sat down next to me "I have so much things on my mind right now" she sighed.

"I guess we have more things in common than just Tracey" I laughed and she laughed too.

"I didn't remember you this funny" she said.

"Huh?"

"Back when you traveled around Kanto, when you and Ash were rivals."

And I knew the moment she said his name I would be telling her about my feelings for him.

"I've grown up, I guess" I said.

"We all have grown up."

"Not Ash" I laughed and she laughed again.

"I wonder how he is doing" she said looking up at the sky.

"I bet he's making new friends, living new great adventures, training new Pokémon, getting hotter and hotter."

"Wait, what?" she laughed.

"You have to admit he's hot" I laughed.

"Are you really saying this? Did you drink alcohol or something?" she kept laughing.

"I mean it and no, I'm not drunk, Ash is hot… I like him" I said nothing more.

"Is this a joke or something?" she said standing up and looking around as if she would find some hidden cameras in the trees or in the grass.

"Nope" I smiled.

"Oh!" she finally realized that all I had said was true "since…"

"Ever" I completed.

She sat down next to me again.

"Thanks for telling me this… it means a lot to me, really."

"I knew I could trust you with this, I mean, Tracey trusts you with all his heart."

"Does Tracey already know this?"

"Of course, now I can finally be myself when I'm with both of you."

She smiled again.

"Thank you" she whispered looking up to the sky.


	3. Chapter 3

**Intermission – Chapter 3**

It was funny how Misty was taking me to all the stores in Viridian Mall by grabbing my hand, it was like she was my mother and she was acting like she was going to get me dressed for prom or something like that. Tracey kept running behind, he was like my father in that scenario. We suddenly stopped in front of a suit store.

"I'm not buying a suit for tonight" I looked at her, a little bit scared actually. I told you she was kind of dressing me for prom.

"Why not? I'm sure you look stunning on a suit" she tried to motivate me.

"I'm still here" Tracey said with a laugh.

"Tell him he needs a suit for tonight!" my mom demanded my dad.

"I don't know, Miss Ketchum didn't say it was a formal dinner" Tracey said just as scared as I was, he clearly didn't want Misty to get mad at him for not agreeing with her in this.

"And by the way, even if it was a formal dinner, Ash and formality don't mix" I laughed.

"Alright, alright" she sighed, surrendered "but we're still buying you something nice, you have to look astounding!"

The rest of the afternoon was somewhat the same, Misty trying to convince me that I needed to buy some clothes in particular and Tracey saving the day by persuading her that maybe it was not the right choice; it's just that Misty's taste of clothing was too different from mine (and yes, it includes more than just lab coats in case you were wondering).

So, in the end, I decided to buy a purple long sleeved sweater (does that remind you of something?), a white shirt (to put under the sweater so the shirt collar remained over the sweater, does that sound nerdy enough for you?), a pair of black slacks and some new black leather shoes (yes, it was still a formal attire but not as much as a suit and hey! I felt comfortable wearing those clothes, it was the most important part of all, wasn't it? Am I pathetic?).

On our way back to the Oak's mansion, we had a little conversation.

"Are you nervous?" Misty asked me from the driver's seat.

"Yeah" I sighed.

"It's going to be alright, Gary, trust me" she smiled sincerely, now the desperate mother trying to dress me up for prom was gone and the loving mother took her place.

"You just have to be positive, Gary; just be yourself" Tracey told me.

We got back to the Oak's mansion by 5pm, dinner at Ketchum's would be at 8pm so we still had some time to get prepared for the night. Misty headed straight to her room and started to get ready (and something inside me was telling me the 3 hours we had would not be enough time for her to get ready, just a hunch). Tracey stayed in the living room to watch a movie and I decided to take another nap.

I woke up around 7:00pm and I took a shower. By the time I was fully dressed in my new clothes, it was around 7:40pm. I went down to the living room and saw Tracey already dressed in a white shirt, black slacks and shoes (basically just like me with the exception of the sweater which really made me look geekier than I already was, should I had worn glasses too?).

"Is gramps ready?" I asked walking closer to him, he was still watching a movie, Resident Evil.

"Woah! You look so handsome, dude!" he said with so much passion that I smiled.

"Thanks!" I genuinely blushed.

"Your grandpa just left an hour ago, he said he wanted to help Miss Ketchum with the dinner and stuff" Tracey said getting back to the movie.

I sat down on the couch next to the TV (in case you were wondering, I don't like horror movies). I didn't say anything, Tracey was so trapped in the movie that it would have been useless, so I waited until Misty was ready. Ten minutes after I sat down, the movie was over and Misty wasn't ready yet (I told you!).

"I know this is just a dinner, but I'm so nervous!" I said but more than nervous, I was excited. Excited to see Ash again, would he greet me by saying something like Tracey said when he saw me wearing this outfit? I would totally melt if he did that.

Tracey smiled "You remind me of myself the night of my first date with Misty."

"But this is not a date, it's just a family and friends' dinner" I corrected.

"Just be cool, bro; he'll be happy to see you."

"Do you think so?"

"Hell yeah! Remember that night when you told me all this? I said Ash was a catch."

I smiled "He is" then I sighed.

"You're more of a catch, dude; and I'm not saying this just because you're my best friend, you really are!"

"Tracey's telling the truth" Misty smiled walking down the stairs.

"Woah!" we both exclaimed surprised. She was wearing a red blouse with long sleeves, black high heels and black slacks (were black slacks trendy tonight or what?). Anyway, she looked beautiful.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed just as blushed as I got early before.

"Let's remember I am the one trying to conquer Ash, ok?" I laughed.

"You look so nerdy" she laughed.

"Want me to wear glasses?" I asked with a laugh.

"I dare you" she smiled.

"Really?" I blushed.

"I think they would make you look nerdier… and so much cuter."

"I'm still here" Tracey laughed.

Misty and I laughed as I walked to the lab to pick my glasses and put them on. I got back to the living room already wearing them.

"So?" I asked by modeling a little.

"Dude!" Tracey exclaimed with excitement.

"Nerdiest and cutest guy I've ever seen" Misty laughed.

"I don't even know if nerdy guys are Ash's type" I laughed.

"They'll definitely be after he sees you" Misty said.

"Alright, let's get going!" I even jumped a little as I said this.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna bring some flowers?" Misty asked, not laughing, she meant this seriously.

"Shut up!" I laughed.

"No, she's right; we should bring some flowers, to Miss Ketchum of course, she loves them!" said Tracey.

"And you should give them to her, Ash will definitely like that" Misty suggested.

"Doesn't that sound… you know… geeky?" I asked blushed.

"Look who's asking" Tracey laughed looking at me.

"Shut up!" I blushed.

So yeah, I surrendered and we took a middle stop between the mansion and the Ketchum's residence to buy some flowers for Miss Ketchum.


	4. Chapter 4

**Intermission – Chapter 4**

We got to the Ketchum's residence around 8:15pm. Misty parked her car in the street and then we walked to the main door (guess who was carrying the flowers, yep, me). After Tracey rang the bell, Miss Ketchum opened the door in no second.

"Gary, Tracey, Misty! What a surprise!" she greeted us all with a hug and a kiss in the cheek "you all look so good!" she sounded delighted.

"Thanks" we all smiled.

"These are for you, Miss Ketchum" I smiled handling her the bouquet of roses we had bought for her.

"Gary! These are beautiful! Thank you so much!" she hugged me again, was it my nerdy look that suddenly got me all these hugs? I hope it would get me at least one from Ash.

And speaking of which, he showed up at the door right after that.

"Hey, you guys!" he exclaimed with a big smile on his beautiful, dark face.

"I'll take these to the kitchen, feel free to come in" Miss Ketchum smiled as she left us alone with her son.

He was taller, hotter and everything more than the last time I had seen him (even if he was just wearing a white t-shirt and some pants). Just as I saw him, I took a step behind Tracey and Misty, he was so close to me, I couldn't believe it! My stomach was already feeling butterflies, was this really happening? How could I be sure I wasn't dreaming?

"You look so beautiful!" he hugged Misty "Tracey, hey!" he hugged Tracey then.

I turned my face to the side, my cheeks were so red! How on Earth did I agree to come here? Oh, yeah… I was forced to.

"Who's there? Oh my God! Gary?" he asked in shock walking towards me, leaving Tracey and Misty behind him. Was it a good shock or a bad shock? I had to know right away!

"Hello, Ashy-boy" I smiled hiding my nervousness as much as I could.

Ashy-boy… really? I could have just said "Hello Ash" but no! I had to call him "Ashy-boy" just like when we were like 10. And just at that moment, Misty and Tracey left us alone, I saw them leave with smiles on their faces but Ash was so focused on me that he didn't notice they had left.

Good, that was all I needed, to be alone with the guy I secretly loved. Help me!

"Woah! You look… different" he grabbed me from my elbows and I started to panic inside "Why don't you face me? Is everything alright?" he asked me with worry in his face.

Everything was perfect, he was touching me (well, at least my elbows) and we were alone (not really but everyone else was inside). I so wanted to kiss him at that moment and I knew I was going to do that unless we got inside, but I didn't want to go inside… but we had to go inside!

"Why don't we go inside?" I asked nervously finally facing him.

That's when I realized… not only was he taller now, he was taller than me! If anything would have made Ash more perfect than he already was in my mind, was him to be taller than me.

"Oh, right!" he laughed, so perfectly "when did Misty and Tracey go inside?" he asked turning now to the house.

"Let's go" I touched his shoulder a little, just enough before it could be considered a hug, and I got into the house.

"I didn't know you wore glasses" he laughed following me through the hall, I know it was just about 5 meters long but God! It seemed like a mile to me!

"Yeah" I said trying not to face me.

"I should have guessed, I mean, you're a scientist after all" he laughed.

I didn't say anything, not because I was offended or anything like it, I was so trying not to kiss him right then.

"I like them" he said after the silence and I almost fell on the floor as I lost control of my legs when I heard him say that.

I finally managed to get to the dining room without exploding (not like the reactions but emotionally), everyone had a seat and there were only 2 of them available and guess what? They were next to each other!

"Gary!" gramps exclaimed surprised when he saw me, now I was beyond embarrassed.

"Hey, gramps!" I smiled, trying to remain as cool as possible.

Misty and Tracey were seated next to each other (this made Miss Ketchum and gramps seat in the opposite sides of the table) and I saw Misty and Tracey whispering thigs to themselves, laughing at me, I was so going to kill them for doing this to me, how could they?!

Dinner started. Miss Ketchum served us a plate of delicious food and the natural conversation started. I could tell Ash had a lot of things to say but he started asking questions himself so his stories would be the last ones to be told.

He first asked Misty what she had been up to.

"Well, the Water type gym of Celadon is doing great! But the League administrators told me last week to be easier on the trainers because my gym is the one with the less trainer victories" she laughed and I knew she was so proud of herself, it wasn't a bad thing at all, I admired her for that.

"What? Is that a thing? You can't win all the time?" Tracey asked surprised. Maybe they were a couple but it didn't mean they had to know everything about each other.

"Yeah, you should let one or two defeat you once in a while" she revealed.

"Woah! I had no idea of that! I wonder if that has happened to me before… I mean, if one gym leader has let me win" Ash said thoughtfully.

"I don't think so, you're an amazing trainer" I said and then I took a bite to remain shut (or try not to kiss him in front of everybody if he hugged me or talked to me or something).

"Thank you, Gary!" he smiled and gave a quick hug (I told you, thanks to the food I was chewing I didn't try to kiss him).

Misty kept talking about her life the last few years she hadn't seen Ash and then Ash asked Tracey about his.

"Oh, by the way, we're dating" Misty said before Tracey could start speaking.

"Say what?" Ash asked surprised and delighted "that's amazing you guys!" he smiled and then he stood up to hug them both.

Seriously, he was hugging everyone.

"I was going to tell him that, you stole my thunder!" Tracey said a little mad to Misty.

"Sorry!" Misty laughed, not regretting what she had said.

Ash went back to sit beside me.

"How did it happen?" Ash asked with a lot of curiosity.

"Well, to tell it short, it was thanks to Gary" Tracey said looking at me.

"Really? I didn't know you were a matchmaker" Ash laughed.

So, then Tracey told what was going on in his life (nothing new to me, I knew it all) and eventually it was only me left (I guessed he and gramps had talked before Tracey, Misty and I got there).

"What about you, Gary? I'm so curious about you" he smiled putting all of his attention into me.

Now I started to sweat, my hands shaking, my cheeks reddening.

I tried to keep it as simple as possible and told him about the evolving stones I was trying to synthesize, that of course got all of his attention.

"That sounds crazy! It sounds so cool! I'm sure you'll make a scientific revolution if you succeed! I'm so proud of you, Gary" he said hugging me and I felt I was going to choke. I froze, this hug lasted way more than the last one, at least 5 seconds.

Everyone was happy to see Ash hugging me, really? Maybe it was just that Ash looked so cute by doing that all the time, not the fact that it was me the one he hugged.

And then he started telling his stories. I don't remember much; I was trying not to pay attention to him because any minute I would try to kiss him and shut him up with my lips. I just remember that he traveled with a guy named Clemont, a little girl named Bonnie and a girl named Serena… oh! And the usual, Team Rocket trying to steal his Pikachu which by the way I hadn't seen all night since I arrived, I think he was sleeping or something.

He talked about an hour, everyone was excited to hear his stories (even me but I was burning sitting next to him so close).

We were already by dessert when he was finally talking about when he said his goodbyes to his companions and that's when I couldn't stop listening to him.

"So, Serena was already leaving and I was about to say my goodbyes to Clemont and Bonnie; and that's when it all happened so fast" he was excited to tell this part, and now I was starting to feel nervous, why would a goodbye be exciting? It made no sense at all "I heard Serena scream my name from the electric stairs" he said and now I was trembling "and she climbed up against them! She climbed back! Isn't that crazy? She climbed back shouting my name, and that's when my stomach felt this something, something I'd never felt before, it happened so quickly, she was back at the top, in the last step of the electric stairs… and she kissed me, she kissed me! I wasn't expecting that! Then she just vanished… so quickly, my cheeks were so red, I… I was so… excited and…"

"I have to go" I stood up taking my phone out of my pocket, pretending someone sent me a text or something and I needed to leave; I couldn't handle this anymore, I couldn't listen to Ash talking about how incredible and romantic his first kiss was and I didn't want to hear from his mouth that he went down those stairs, kissed her again and asked her to become his girlfriend; no, I wasn't ready for that shit to come on me, not right now, who am I kidding? Not ever "thank you for the dinner, Miss Ketchum, it was delicious" I smiled and before anyone could say anything, I got out of the house.

I was so stupid to think Ash would ever notice me, that he would ever at least think of me in a romantic way, as I walked down the street, I cried… even more than before, I was heartbroken, I was shattered, and I know I had no right to feel that way, I know I was being selfish, Ash wasn't guilty of anything… I just… I just wanted to forget him, to let go of all my feelings for him so I could be happy for him getting a girlfriend, just as I was happy for Tracey being Misty's boyfriend.

The street was calm and empty, one of those usual nights in Pallet Town where everyone goes to sleep by 9:00pm. I walked around 5 minutes before Tracey showed up.

"Gary!" Tracey shouted running behind me.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed in anger, sadness and despair.

"Don't do this! Please, don't!"

"He's never going to notice me, Tracey!" now I turned to face him "look at how ridiculously I dressed just for him!" I shouted, taking my glasses and throwing them to the floor and I stepped on them with my right foot.

"I know how you must be feeling, but please, Gary, come back."

"Come back? So, I could hear him say how happy he is with his new girlfriend? Do you want me to explode in front of everyone or what?" now the explosions I talked about at the beginning didn't seem so far from reality.

"She's not his girlfriend, you should have listened to the rest, he didn't go down the stairs to kiss her and he didn't ask her to become his girlfriend… she didn't even kiss him on the lips!" Tracey could entirely read my mind, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Does it really matter? She kissed him and he liked it!" I shouted, my eyes the reddest color I ever had "and if it's not her, it will be someone else, a girl! Not a stupid pathetic boy like me!"

"You're being so unfair, not only to you, but to Ash" Tracey said disappointed.

"I know I'm being selfish and a total idiot, but I can't do anything about it, this is me! I know I'm acting like the victim and I know Ash has no idea of this so he isn't guilty of anything, I know all these damn things Tracey, I know! I just can't do this! I can't pretend anymore, I can't be around him anymore without trying to hug him, or kiss him, or tell him how I feel about him… I'm so scared of myself, I can't think of the idea to lose him forever… and I know it makes no sense because I can't dare to see him anymore… but I will eventually lose these feelings for him and we will be good friends… right? It has to be right."

Tracey didn't answer me, he just stepped forward and hugged me, as my best friend he always knew when to shup up and just listen to me and give me a hug; so, that's why he did those things back then when I really needed them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Intermission – Chapter 5**

I convinced Tracey to let me go home by myself so he returned to the Ketchum's residence. Again, he would come up with a lie to cover my unexpected and sudden decision to leave.

But I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to go anywhere. I wandered the streets of Pallet Town for an hour or two before it got too cold and my sweater didn't do much to keep me warm.

It was around midnight when I got home and nobody was there, I supposed Ash had more stories to tell about him and his new "girlfriend". I know I was acting like a baby but so what? My heart was shattered and I think I had the right to speak it out.

However, I couldn't blame Ash, I couldn't hate him… nor even that girl whose name I had now forgotten and I didn't want to remember or hear ever again, at least she had had the guts to kiss Ash and risk it all… and she was lucky Ash took that kiss all so well that he felt the urge to tell the story to all of us, even if it wasn't a kiss on the lips like Tracey had told me moments before.

The mansion was completely dark with the exception of the kitchen which always stayed with the lights on whenever there was nobody home. The living room was in total darkness but the kitchen lights made the piano visible. I was tempted to sit and play some music… but I was rather tired… so, I didn't turn on any lights, I went up the stairs to the second floor, then I walked through the long hall and took the stairs at the end to the third floor. I walked another long hall again and entered my room which was at the very end. I did all that in the complete darkness, only guiding me with the stair bars and the walls (and a little bit of moonlight that made its way past the windows at the end of the halls).

I entered my room and my bed was shining with moonlight. It was so tempting so I took off all my clothes with the exception of my underwear and went straight to it, I covered myself with a blanket and I instantly fell asleep wanting to never having to wake up again.

In the middle of the night, somebody opened the door to my bedroom. I could see the lights of the hall were on, so it was probably Tracey or even my grandfather… but it was Misty.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked with a look of guilt on her face.

"Yeah, but it's okay, come in" I sat in my bed still covering the lower part of my body with the blanket. It was not a big deal being shirtless around Misty, we both know there wasn't any kind of attraction between us.

"Thanks" she said closing the door and sitting in the chair in front of my desk. She didn't turn the lights on, the moonlight was enough for us to see each other.

"What brings you here? Can't sleep?" I asked her even if I knew that wasn't the real reason she had come to my room.

"It got so lonely after you left" she whispered.

"Huh?"

Had she really said that? Was my absence really something that made the dinner atmosphere feel lonely? I didn't even speak much during dinner so it was hard to believe that.

"Yeah, Ash suddenly lost all of his enthusiasm, he continued his story for a few minutes but he was rather unexcited, that's when Tracey left for a moment while Ash asked your grandpa to tell him how his research had been."

So, Ash and gramps hadn't talked about that before Tracey, Misty and I got to dinner. Did Ash feel guilty for me leaving so suddenly? Could that ever have been a possibility? Was it?

"I think he knows something" Misty said concerned.

"Yeah, sure" I laughed with sarcasm.

But I couldn't help but wonder… had I been too obvious? I left the moment Ash mentioned that kiss… had he interpreted my leaving as an act of jealously or heartbreak? Now I was more frightened than before. Had I just pushed him away for the rest of my life? Would we ever talk again?

"At least I think he felt it was his fault that you left so abruptly, maybe he's not the most intelligent person around but he could feel that, and feelings have nothing to do with intelligence" she said looking through the window.

Was there even a tiny possibility that what Misty was saying was true? Would it change things? I didn't think so. Ash still liked girls and I was still a boy.

"You should hang out with him one of these days, just so he feels better about it, I think he didn't believe Tracey's excuse, that you left because professor Rowan made an urgent call."

Yeah, Tracey's excuse was kind of lame and I wouldn't have believed it either.

"He's going to leave to Alola, he's so excited to leave, he always does this, he comes home, stays a day and he leaves as soon as he can; I bet he is leaving tomorrow, Misty; there's nothing else I can do" I sounded so convinced of my words but… was it really true that there was nothing else I could do?

"He said he's going to stay for two more days, his ship to Alola sails on Monday morning" Misty revealed. It was already Saturday so Ash would still be around that day and the day that followed.

"Then I won't get out of this room until Tuesday, just to be sure."

"Don't close your heart! Please, don't!"

"I have to, Misty; I don't want to get more hurt than I already am."

"We'll go to Cerulean tomorrow, he, Tracey and I; you should join us, I know he will be happy to have someone to talk to, I know he's going to feel left alone because Tracey and I are a couple, if you come then you guys can talk all you want to, we can even disappear and leave you guys alone if you want" she sounded so excited about this idea, and I know it was something she and Tracey had planned since I left the Ketchum's residency… so it was hard to say no.

But I had to say no "I can't… I won't."

"Gary…"

"I need some sleep, would you mind leaving, please?"

She looked sad, I wasn't sure, I couldn't see much of her face in the darkness. There was something off about her, remember how enthusiastic she was when she got me out of the bed the day before to take me clothing shopping? And how excited she was taking me to all the stores in Viridian City? That excitement and that enthusiasm had just vanished right there before my own eyes… had I broken her?

"We'll leave at 10:00am, in case you change your mind" she said trying to smile.

I wasn't sure if she was holding back her tears, like she was also hurt about what I was feeling... was she sharing my hurt right then? Tracey was my best friend… and Misty was his girlfriend, sure, she was a good friend of mine… but right then I realized she was a better friend, maybe not a best friend yet… but I was sure she was going the right way.

Before I could say anything (and I didn't say anything else) she left my room, closing the door behind her.

The next morning, I woke up at around 9:00am so I was still on time to join Misty, Tracey and Ash on their trip to Cerulean City… but I decided to stay in my room until past 10:00am just to be sure not to bump into them. Eventually, Tracey knocked my door trying to convince me to go, but his efforts would go to waste… maybe.

"Please, Gary, just come, we want to spend some time with you" he said standing next to my door. I was still on bed and I hadn't even put my clothes on.

"Just tell him I have an important meeting if he asks about me."

I went back to bed, waiting for Tracey to leave, so he left. He didn't insist… he was just like Misty had been the night before… I had broken him too. He was sharing my hurt… he was my best friend after all but I wasn't proud of him feeling my hurt… but at least he and Misty had each other… God! I sounded so selfish… I knew I was being the worst best friend in the world right then. I just… I just wanted to sleep and wake up feeling better… all my problems solved… but I knew that was impossible.

I stayed the whole day in my room, I just went downstairs whenever I needed some water or food… the piano still tempted me but I wasn't really in the mood.

There was a bathroom in my room so I didn't have to bother with leaving the room whenever I had the urge to go.

I didn't even put clothes on, I just walked around my room in my underwear (I put on a t-shirt whenever I had to go downstairs but at the moment I got back to my room, I took it off). I took a shower in the afternoon but I only put on some clean underwear, somehow, I felt safer with the least clothes on, I felt more natural and less… pretending.

I wondered how Ash was feeling, he was never the person to feel excluded from a group so I didn't think being with a couple like Misty and Tracey would make him feel alone, he didn't need me. He didn't need me… the hurtful truth… he didn't need me… but I needed him more than I could think of.

It was around 7:00pm when Tracey entered my room. I had so many questions about their trip but I didn't ask them.

"He's in the living room, you should at least go say hi" Tracey said.

"Tell him I'm busy, I don't know…"

"Stop it! Will you? Just stop it!" he shouted to me… he was angry, his eyes were different than that morning, they had been sad that morning… now they were anger red.

"Tracey!" I was surprised to see him like this.

"I don't want to keep covering you on this! You are so immature! And he is a year younger than you! Just go talk to him and tell him everything is alright; he needs to hear you say that! He cares about you, maybe not the way you would want him to, but he cares about you as a friend! He is worried about you, he couldn't stop asking Misty and me all these questions about you, that if you were okay, that if there was something wrong bothering you, that if you were in some kind of big trouble… he thinks you are in a problem and he wants to help you get through it… so please, just go downstairs, now!"

I was left speechless… Tracey's words were loud and they went straight to my heart, they hit me right in the right spot… I started crying.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't want my words to hurt you!" Tracey ran to my bed and hugged me "I shouldn't have said all those things, but you are my best friend and I have never lied to you" and in that moment, I felt he was crying too "I just… I don't like seeing you like this, man; I want the happy you back, my dude with the sarcastic comments."

"Me too, Tracey…" I sighed putting my hands on my face, cleaning away my tears "I'm such a crybaby" I laughed a little.

But Tracey was right in every little thing he had just said.

"I'll just go downstairs and tell Ash you're sleeping" Tracey stood up.

I looked down at the floor "I'm sorry I'm not brave enough to go face him… I can't."

"I know" he sighed "just be downstairs in an hour, I want to have dinner with you, I'll even make enchiladas" he said with a smile and then he left my room.

So, Tracey was giving up on trying to get me to Ash... it was so sad, he'd been telling me all these months that Ash and I would be together someday, he was so optimistic about it and now my negativity had just made him surrender… this wasn't right, was it? I was intoxicating my best friend with my negativity, I shouldn't have been doing that; as a best friend, I was supposed to do everything but not to intoxicate him.

That's why I decided not to destroy my friendship with him, I got out of bed and got dressed even if the day had just a few hours left. I went downstairs, he was in the kitchen getting the ingredients out of the fridge (Ash had already left… and I didn't see Misty either, so I supposed she had stayed in Cerulean, I was still going to phone her later to apologize for my behavior, I didn't want to lose her either).

"Do you need some help?" I asked with a smile as I entered into the kitchen.

"Hey!" he had a very happy smile on his face "sure!"

I wish I could have had the guts to go and see Ash just as I had the guts to get out of bed and not risk my friendship with Tracey… but I guess this was the farthest I could go. Maybe I had reasons to be sad, yeah, like Ash not loving me just as much as I loved him… but I had the greatest best friend I could ever ask for, and I was blind not to see it until then.

And the enchiladas we made that night, damn! Those were the best damn enchiladas I ever ate in my whole life!


	6. Chapter 6

**Intermission – Chapter 6**

That night, Tracey and I laughed like we had never laughed before. I don't know if it was the spicy enchiladas or the fact that we were alone in the mansion so we could be as crazy and laugh as loud as we could (gramps had left in the afternoon for a Conference in Hoenn and he was going to stay there for a couple of days). I just loved the days when Tracey and I were left alone in the mansion.

After dinner, we went to the living room and Tracey even got me into watching Resident Evil 2 with him, I screamed like… a lot, and he couldn't stop laughing at me, but it was a nice evening after all.

I guess that the movie got out all the stress I had kept inside me in the shape of screams and fear. I didn't care if I was going to have nightmares (I was sure I was going to) because I had spent the night with my best friend and I had totally loved it.

After the movie, I was so sleepy (yeah, I know I had spent most of the day in my room but I couldn't help feeling sleepy, I was in a lazy phase, okay?) so I decided to go to my room.

"Thank you" I told to Tracey before taking the stairs. He was going to stay in the living room to watch Resident Evil 3 and I had told him I just couldn't handle another horror movie, not two in the same night.

He laughed "Always my pleasure" he smiled at me.

I smiled back at him and I went to my room and my bed. I instantly fell asleep because at that very moment I felt relaxed and calmer. And once again, in the middle of the night someone knocked my door. What was Tracey up to now? Maybe he wasn't able to sleep and he wanted to talk a little.

"Come in, it's opened!" I said sitting in my bed, wearing only my underwear as usual and covering the lower part of my body with the blankets.

But this time, it wasn't Tracey… it was Ash himself!

"Ash!" I screamed hiding below the blankets, I was wearing only my underwear! This was not happening! Oh my God! My face was entirely red. This was not happening!

"Hey" he said with a low smile, entering the room and closing the door behind him "should I turn the lights on?" he asked with curiosity.

"No! Don't do that!" I shouted below the blankets.

"Okay" he sighed and took a seat just where Misty had seated the night before, in the chair in front of my desk.

I decided it was not a big deal if he saw my chest (besides it was dark), so I took a seat in the bed still covering my legs with the blankets, trying to remain as cool as possible.

"Sorry to interrupt you at this time of the night but Tracey helped me get in" he sighed "I just couldn't sleep without talking to you, I just can't leave to Alola without talking to you." Now I noticed Ash's voice tone… he wasn't happy… he was rather sad. Was it my room making everyone sad when they were in it?

What time was it? I was sure it was past midnight. How many Resident Evil movies were there?

"I know you don't want to talk to me" he said at last.

"It's not like that, Ash" I sighed.

He wouldn't look at me, he was looking to the floor; I mean it was dark but the moonlight still gave some lighting to the room. I could see his silhouette and I could notice he wasn't wearing a hat like usual.

"Don't lie to me, please" he said in a sad tone.

"I'm not lying Ash, I so want to talk to you, you have no idea how much!"

Of course, he didn't believe me.

"I know you've been making Tracey lie to me, I'm not stupid, Gary; I know there's a 5-hour time zone gap between here and Sinnoh and I'm sure Professor Rowan calling you at 3:00am Sinnoh time was a big lie" he started to cry, was he really crying? It was so dark I couldn't see his face completely… but I could see it was getting wet "then today, you told him to tell me you were busy in a meeting of some sort but my mom came to take your grandpa to the airport and he told her you had been in your room all day... what was that about? What's going on, Gary? You don't like me?"

 _WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I LOVE YOU!_ I wanted to scream and shout… but I stayed in silence… I knew his question didn't have a romantic way of liking him, he meant it in a friendship way of liking.

"I just thought that we had already overcome all our differences and that we were friends again" he laughed a little but I could listen to his tears, his voice was weaker by the second and his throat was closing "when I was on the plane coming home, I was so excited to share all my adventures with you, you are my oldest friend, Gary, you are my childhood best friend, you're very special to me… but then, when we were having dinner, I noticed you were annoyed by my stories… and the way you abruptly left… I'm not an idiot, I know you had had enough and just wanted to leave" now it was clear he was crying.

That wasn't the truth at all, but I didn't say a word, I remained frozen, I let him continue.

He covered his face with his hands "It hurts me, don't you see?" now he faced me through the darkness "I thought of you as a very special friend, hell, as one of the best friends I've ever had! And you just seem not to like me, is there anything wrong with me? Something you don't like about me?"

I loved all about him, but I couldn't answer his question, not without revealing my feelings for him and making everything much worse than it already was. Now it was me who couldn't look at him, he was looking at me now.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked with his right hand on his chest.

"This is more complicated than you think" I looked to the window next to me and pressed my fists against my bed.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Are you in some kind of trouble? You know you can count of me!" he exclaimed walking towards me, he stood on his knees against the window and in front of the bed, looking directly to my face; from that position, he could see my chest and my face completely and I could see his face as well, he had been crying and he gave me a smile, grabbing both my hands with his.

"From all people in the world you're the one who can help me the least!" I exclaimed pulling his hands away from mine and getting out of the bed, walking to the darkest corner of my room so he couldn't see me wearing only my underwear.

"Is that so?" he stood up and asked me looking in my direction, I could see his body thanks to the moonlight but I was sure he couldn't see anything of me.

"Please, just leave" I sighed "you're leaving tomorrow… or the day after tomorrow, I have no idea what time it is now, just go."

He started crying again "Just tell me… what did I do wrong? Did I hurt your feelings with something I said or something I did? What broke our friendship like this?"

"Nothing… you did everything in the most perfect way you could have ever done it! You're perfect!" I shouted as tears fell from my eyes.

Now I saw confusion in his eyes… and I realized I had said those words out loud instead of keeping them to myself.

"Gary? What's going on? You can trust me" he said walking towards me… walking towards the darkness.

"Stop! Don't come closer to me!" I shouted.

He stopped in the middle of the way, just right in front of the door.

"If that's what you want… I'll leave."

I didn't say anything…

He walked slowly to the door and the moment he was about to open it to get out… that was the moment I decided to give me the chance to explode… I decided I had nothing else to lose, so I stepped out of the darkness, I didn't care if he would see me wearing only my boxers, I wasn't ashamed anymore.

He looked at me, surprised and in an instant I pulled my hands around his shoulders and gave him a kiss.

It didn't last more than a second "What are you doing?" he said shocked, throwing me away; now his hands were shaking and there was fear in his face, but it wasn't a fear that you get from watching a scary movie... it was different, I couldn't describe it.

"I'm in love with you, don't you see?" I cried "Damn it! I love you, Ash Ketchum!" I said running back to the darkness and sitting on the corner, my knees in front of my face, my arms around my knees… crying.

I didn't hear the door open. He was still there. I wasn't facing him anymore. He didn't say anything back. It was the longest silence ever. Then I heard his footsteps walking to the door, that was it, it was fucking over; but at least I had taken the risk, hadn't I? I wasn't going to live the rest of my life feeling regretful about not telling him how I felt for him.

But I still didn't hear the door open. Was there hesitation in him? Ash was the kindest person in the world, maybe he didn't feel the same about me but he would try to work things out and still remain friends with me; after all, he said he cared about our friendship… maybe he was trying to say something but he just couldn't find the words. Who am I kidding? He wanted to get the hell out of there but he was still in a shock.

And then I heard his footsteps again… the door wasn't that far from the position he was when I kissed him… was he walking in circles? Was he going to leave using the window? But we were in the third floor of the mansion!

And then he sat down next to me. I felt his body close to mine. He remained silent and I kept on crying. A minute, two minutes, three minutes… five minutes… I stopped crying, he was still there… I heard him breathing… but as we were both in the dark, I couldn't see him. I spread my legs to the floor and let my arms rest to my sides.

I had no idea what to say next, in an easier world he would have just left after the kiss but in this world, he wanted to talk things out… he didn't want to lose my friendship just because I loved him and he didn't love me back.

And then, out of nowhere… like a spontaneous chemical reaction, one of those that immediately explode out of nowhere… he kissed me.

This was a different kiss from the one I had given him moments before. That had been a short, rushed and tough kiss… the one he was giving me now was long, soft and tender. His lips synchronized with mine so naturally, so slowly, and they tasted delicious… they were juicy and wet… his lips touching mine for the first time… it felt amazing. Even if we were both in the dark and we didn't need to, I knew he was closing his eyes just as I was. At one moment, he grabbed my right hand with his left hand and we kept kissing until we were out of air… I had no idea how long it lasted… but it was long enough to realize that he felt the same way about me… didn't he?

He didn't let go of holding my hand, and then another silence came in… but it was a comfortable silence. Had I just really kissed Ash? And the most important thing: had Ash just really kissed me?

"Thank you" I finally broke the silence.

"For what?" he asked innocently.

I laughed in silence.

"Well… this was so unexpected… I really… I really…" he tried to confess something but he was so nervous, I could tell he was blushing.

"I really liked kissing you too" I said assuming that was what he was going to say.

There was a moment of silence, I knew he was embarrassed because what I had said was what he was going to say.

"I… I never… I'd… I can't… I… I… like…" he was so nervous he couldn't complete any of his statements, my sweet Ashy-boy was nervous and it was as perfect as it could be.

I leaned my head over his shoulder and I could hear him blush (yeah, I know it's impossible to hear someone blush but I did hear him blush! I swear! Kissing him didn't make me crazy! Okay?). I had no idea what he was thinking, I so wanted to know… but I didn't want to push things, whatever this was, it had just started and I wanted Ash to feel the most comfortable he could.

I closed my eyes, I knew he had closed his too… and in a minute or two, we fell asleep together, both smiling, both still grabbing each other's hand… it was already the best night of my life, the best day of my life so far.


	7. Chapter 7

**Intermission – Chapter 7**

I opened my eyes, I felt like I had been born once again. I could sense the blood running through my veins, if there was a perfect sensation a human being could ever feel, this was it, a perfect state of being. My hand was still grabbing his hand and now it was his head leaning on my shoulder. Ash and I had just slept all night in this position and it had been so comfortable for both of us. I still couldn't believe this had happened.

It was then, with the sunlight illuminating the whole room, that I realized I was in my underwear. I had to get dressed before Ash woke up. During the night, the darkness protected me but now he would see me and no! I couldn't allow that.

So, I grabbed his hand away from mine and I silently stood up. I put on a t-shirt and some pants. What time was it? I was hungry for sure. I stared at Ash in silence, he was sleeping so beautifully, his crazy dark hair was sexier than ever, the marks on his cheeks, his tan… he was more beautiful asleep than woken up (I know this sounds kind of creepy but I'm not a creep!).

The second I heard the door to my room open I ran to it.

"Tracey!" I smiled grabbing the door with my hands.

He gave me a big smile. Shit! Tracey had let Ash in and I'm sure he noticed Ash didn't leave the mansion at all!

"First of all, it's not what you think!" I whispered in defense.

"My God! You're so lying! That's my man!" he laughed hitting my shoulder softly.

"Shh! You're going to wake him up!" I whispered loudly.

"He's here? Oh my God! I thought he left the mansion after I went to bed! This is crazy, dude!" he laughed keeping his voice down but his excitement up to the clouds.

I closed the door and got out to the hall with him.

"Did you two…?"

"No!" I knew what he was going to ask me "we just kissed! And it was only one kiss!" I blushed.

"Gary Oak, you're such a heartbreaker!" he kept laughing. I know he was happy for me but I was so embarrassed right then.

"Cut it off! It's not a big deal, we just kissed…"

"It's not a big deal!" he exclaimed with sarcasm "he says it's not a big deal" now he sounded like he was talking to the walls or breaking the fourth wall or something "this is the big deal, man!"

"Okay, okay, just go to the lab until I get him out of here, I don't want him to get nervous if he sees you and he thinks you realized he spend the night here."

"Okay but I want full details on that kiss, and Misty will want to know too, for sure" Tracey winked.

"You idiot" I laughed and blushed.

He winked again and left the hall.

I went back to my room and Ash was still asleep. Just as I closed the door, his eyes started opening slowly.

"Good morning" I smiled.

"Good morning" he smiled with a sleepy voice, stretching his body and opening his eyes slowly.

"How did you sleep?" I asked sitting on the floor in front of him.

"Great… it was perfect" he yawned and smiled again, now he looked at me... and his eyes sparkled.

I blushed, he had actually liked spending the night with me… I know this was just us sleeping together (with our clothes on even if I was in my underwear) after a kiss but it seemed so huge! Such a big step!

I had zillions of questions but I decided not to ask them, I didn't want to overwhelm him, what were we now? Clearly our friendship was a step ahead, lots of steps ahead, a mile ahead, but… were we something more? Not even I knew that. So, I was still confused about what that amazing kiss last night had meant.

"Oh God!" he exclaimed with his eyes wide open.

My heart started to ache. That wasn't a good tone in his voice when he exclaimed that. He seemed scared… had he realized he had just made a mistake by kissing me and staying the night? I couldn't not ask him.

"What is it?" I was trembling, scared to hear his answer.

"My mom must have already woken up! She might have also noticed I'm not in the house!" he exclaimed getting up and suddenly I felt better, I smiled, he didn't regret kissing me… maybe he regretted staying a little bit but just because he didn't want his mom to be worried about him which was totally understandable "I should go, Gary" he sighed.

I stood up "It's going to be okay, I can tell her I called you in the middle of the night and invited you to watch a movie with Tracey and I, then it was too late for you to leave and I invited you to stay" I smiled trying to calm him down with an excuse.

"Damn! Tracey must have realized I didn't leave, he knows I stayed in your room!" he freaked out.

I laughed.

"What?" he asked seriously scared.

"What worries you about that?" I asked with curiosity.

"He probably thinks we slept together or something!" he freaked out more, in an adorable way.

"Didn't we?" I laughed.

"Not the way he probably thinks!" now he was blushed.

"I'll talk to Tracey, you don't have to worry; he's my best friend."

Ash took a deep breath, calming down at last.

"Alright, let's call my mom and tell her your story of you inviting me to watch a movie."

"Let's go downstairs" I grabbed his hand naturally.

"Gary!" he blushed even more but he didn't push my hand away from his.

I laughed again, my Ashy-boy was so nervous and I loved it!

We went downstairs, still holding hands and when we got to the living room, he took the phone and dialed his house phone number.

"Hi, mom!" he exclaimed sounding casual.

Then he told her what I had said about the movie and him staying, he was a bit nervous but he could handle it to the end.

"No, we haven't had breakfast yet" he smiled "Oh! Of course, I'll ask them" he sounded happy "she wants you to come for breakfast" he told me holding the phone in his hands.

"Tell her I'm totally in" I smiled.

"We'll be there in ten minutes, love you mom" he hung up the phone.

I knew that Tracey was invited too but I wanted to have a close moment with only Ash and Miss Ketchum, Ash felt the same too (but I still had to inform Tracey we were going out so he could get out of the lab).

"I'll just go to the lab and check some stuff, it'll only take me two minutes" I told Ash.

"It's okay, I'll wait here" he smiled.

And just before I turned my way to go the lab, he grabbed my wrist and pushed me to him and kissed me.

It was as unexpected as last night kiss… as beautiful, as amazing. After we stopped kissing, we exchanged smiles and blushes.

"I'll be right back!" I exclaimed running to the lab. We had just kissed for the second time! Gosh! I couldn't believe this was happening!

I was in the lab in a few seconds, Tracey was using his laptop.

"Hey!" I smiled.

"What's up?" he asked with a smile.

"I'll go the Ketchum's for breakfast, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Sure" he smiled without asking me more.

"What?" I knew there was something in his mind.

"Nothing" he laughed.

"C'mon!" I insisted.

"I'm so happy for you, dude" he smiled sincerely.

I blushed "It's just a breakfast, Tracey!" I exclaimed.

"It's the little things that are the most special" he winked.

I told him I'd tell him everything later.

"Don't worry, spend the whole day with him, you deserve it, take him somewhere special, I don't know, let the romantic Gary speak for you."

I smiled "I will."

I went back to the living room, Ash was waiting around the piano.

"Do you play the piano? Or is it your grandpa?" he asked with a lot of curiosity.

I smiled and took a seat in front of it "Come in, sit."

He blushed and sat next to me.

"Do you really know how to play this?"

"Oh yeah!" I smiled proudly stretching my hands.

As I started playing, I noticed I had no idea what to play, I had no song, no melody in mind… I was just randomly playing the piano but he actually believed it was an original song I had written myself. I hadn't played the piano the three months before… but somehow it seemed like it had been yesterday the last time I played.

He leaned his head on my shoulder as I played the "song." When I was over, I actually regretted not taping the moment, not because Ash was leaning his head over my shoulder and that it actually looked very cute but because I had actually liked the random "song" I had just played.

He sighed, a happy sigh. Then I grabbed his hand. We remained in silence for a couple of seconds.

I stood up and he did too "Ready to go, Ashy-boy?"

He blushed and I realized that my common "Ashy-boy" had just taken a whole new meaning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Intermission – Chapter 8**

He was leaving the next day, we hadn't discussed the topic yet (and I had a feeling we wouldn't). So, I wanted to spend the day with him, knowing that he would be gone for the six months to follow. Would we even start a relationship under those circumstances? I didn't know for sure… I mean, we had kissed but that wasn't enough to start being a couple… was it? There was only one sure thing in our silence… we both wanted to be next to each other the whole day.

Our day had started in my house, we had our first and second kisses right there. Now we were heading to his house to have breakfast with his mother. I had a feeling we would be having a lot of dates in the same day, and I was so excited but at the same time, I was feeling kind of scared and tired without even starting.

I decided to take the day as little pieces in order to get through it more easily.

"I'm nervous" I confessed to Ash before he rang the bell to his house.

He looked surprised and he smiled at me "Really? Why?"

"It's just…" I sighed.

"It's going to be okay, my mom won't mind, trust me" he said with no hesitation in his voice. How could he be so sure about that?

Then without telling me, he rang the bell himself, and he grabbed my hand with his just when Miss Ketchum opened the door and I couldn't pull him apart, we were holding hands in front of the door, my face completely blushed; she definitely saw our hands together.

"Hi, mom!" he exclaimed with such an excitement as if he had just come back from another Pokémon League.

"Well, good morning my baby!" she hugged Ash but even after that, he still held my hand with his.

She wasn't blind, she had to see our hands together for Arceus sake! I was melting in nervousness. I knew Miss Ketchum was very nice (probably the nicest person I knew besides Ash) but this… her son holding hands with another guy… wasn't this hard for her to digest? She didn't seem to mind at all (or maybe she did was blind and she hadn't seen our hands together… or maybe she just thought of us being best friends, I don't know, I was totally being neurotic about all this so I decided to stop once and for all).

"Good morning, Miss Ketchum" I trembled and looked away.

She smiled at me and hugged me too "welcome, Gary."

She didn't seem to fake her tone (why would she? Stop being neurotic, Gary).

But my stomach was exploding, this was such a huge step, wasn't it? Ash was holding my hand in front of his mother, did that mean we were an official couple? Even if I was just making this up in my mind… no, I wasn't making this up, he was holding my hand in front of her! There was no other explanation!

"I made pancakes, why don't you come in?" she smiled and returned to the kitchen.

That's when I could tell she looked down at our hands, just for a nanosecond (which is totally less than a millionth part of a second, okay now I had to stop being nerdy, I just knew she looked down at our hands together, that's all).

"What did you just do?" I asked Ash in a low voice, totally freaked out.

He laughed "What?"

"You know what I mean, this!" I exclaimed showing him our hands still together.

Then he stole me a kiss and I melted even more past my melting point (okay I'm nerdy, sorry, I can't help it!).

"I want you Gary, with no pretending, no lies, not in my house at least" he smiled.

My heart was racing… was this real? Ash… Ash didn't want to pretend we weren't more than friends… he wanted us to be ourselves at least in his house… I was extremely happy and touched, I shed a tear, then another and suddenly I was bursting in tears, happy tears in my face with a big, big smile.

He hugged me, I closed my eyes and let him embrace me. He was younger but in this moment, he was taking care of me like he was the older one… and I loved that sensation, my Ashy-boy was protecting me.

I know that in one moment, Miss Ketchum got back to the door and saw us hugging, I didn't need to open my eyes to see, and I know she felt very happy for us… she wouldn't ask us questions for the moment, instead, she would show us her support by not asking anything.

"Sorry, this is just…" I dried my tears.

"You're so cute, Gary" he played with my hair (remember he was taller than me?).

I blushed "Stop it!"

"Let's go, I'm really hungry" he took me inside and he closed the door behind us.

I had been in this house two days before but it seemed so different now, everything was different now. As we walked through the hall, he couldn't resist confessing me something.

"About your nerdy outfit the other night… I totally loved it" he said walking in front of me.

"Thanks!" I blushed again.

"And that included your nerdy attitude" he added.

Then I exploded.

He didn't say anything else but I knew he was smiling. We got to the dining room where Miss Ketchum had already served us pancakes and strawberry milkshakes.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed. I finally saw Ash's best friend and he seemed so happy to see me.

"Hey, Pikachu!" I exclaimed as he jumped to my arms.

"He surely missed you" Ash said taking a seat in front of the table.

"I'm sure you've gotten stronger, haven't you, buddy?" I asked Pikachu in my arms.

"Pika-chu!" he smiled.

I took a place in the table next to Ash while Pikachu went out to the garden to play with the rest of Ash's Pokémon.

I saw Miss Ketchum sit in front of us, she couldn't help but smile to see us. I know she had a lot of questions but she didn't ask them. Instead, she wanted us to trust her, and Ash totally trusted her. Ash grabbed my hand again, below the table, making me feel everything was going to be alright.

"I like Gary, mom" he confessed.

"Really?" she had totally expected it since she saw our hands together moments before but she was still surprised "what about you, Gary?" she now asked me with a curious smile.

"I… I like your son… Miss Ketchum" I said a little bit nervous, it would still take me some time before I would get used to Ash's total confidence in his mother.

"Call me Delia, please" Delia seemed happy enough with my answer.

Ash grabbed a bite of his pancakes.

"It's delicious!"

"A new recipe I found on the web last night" Delia shared her secret.

And just like that, we changed the topic of the conversation in such a natural way, there was nothing else to talk about Ash and me, Delia knew enough for now; I felt calmer then (though I would have loved to see Delia's reaction if Ash had told her about our first kiss but I just knew he would eventually tell her).

I felt that we could talk about anything but still, I felt Delia wanted to ask us about what we would do after tomorrow… after Ash left for Alola. I tried to keep that question away from my mind as long as I could but the later the hour of the day, the more it rang inside my thoughts.

We still talked about a lot of things: Delia's other recipes she found online (she was actually part of an online cooking club and she loved it!), I told them more about my latest experiments, I also told them about my trip to Viridian City with Misty and Tracey and both of them found the story very funny.

"I totally liked your nerdy outfit too" Delia revealed with a smile.

"I wish you could always dress like that" Ash told me.

"I can do that if you want, I mean… I can start wearing glasses, I do need them but I didn't want to wear them before… now I do" I confessed.

"Yes, use glasses, you look so sexy with glasses!" he was so excited and not at all embarrassed to say this in front of his mother.

For the first time, I saw how close Ash and his mother were despite Ash having traveled for a long time, I thought that because Ash was away from home most of the time, he and his mother weren't that close but I was so wrong, and it made me happy that I was so wrong because I loved how close he and his mom were.

"Ash!" she said after listening to his comment about me looking sexy with glasses.

"C'mon, isn't that the truth?" he asked Delia.

Truly, I was so surprised at how naturally Ash was taking this thing between us… just before that dinner two days ago, he was excited about that girl who kissed him, and he seemed genuinely interested in the kiss… which made me think he had no idea about him liking boys, that idea may have never crossed his mind before the night of our first kiss…

So, him liking boys was something so huge, a drastic change in his life but he was taking it like it wasn't a big deal… in so many ways… and I didn't know his exact thoughts buy maybe for him it wasn't a question of liking a boy or liking a girl or liking them both… it was just a question of liking a person, and that person, that lucky person was me… I liked Ash, I guess I could say I loved Ash… but in that moment, I gained a lot of respect for Ash, he was way more mature than me, and I felt it was all thanks to his mother… and Delia knew it, she was very proud of her son… and in some sort of way, I was proud of him too, I was proud of my boyfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

**Intermission – Chapter 9**

After breakfast, he invited me to his bedroom (and no, it's not what you are thinking). I was there, standing in the middle, taking a look at Ash's room for the first time ever in centuries, I think I had been there when I was a child but I had no memories of then. He had a lot of stuff, mostly his medals and things he brought from his journeys.

He showed me everything. Those items and gifts were pretty valuable for him, they were from his friends, the friends he had met during his journeys. It didn't surprise me that he didn't have anything from me, I never gave him a present back when I was his rival when we traveled, separately, around Kanto and Johto.

"Maybe there's nothing yours here, but there's always been something yours with me" he smiled.

I was confused, I didn't understand what he was talking about, was my Ashy-boy being metaphorical?

"It's my half-pokéball" he smiled taking it off his pocket.

"Oh my God! You still have it!" I was so surprised, I had mine too, damn it! I had left it in the lab! But yes, I carried it around everywhere because I considered it my good luck charm.

"Of course! It's my good luck charm, it's been with me throughout these years."

I was crying in joy, I threw myself at him and we both fell to the floor, there I kissed him intensely. I grabbed his wrists with my hands and pushed them to the sides as my knees were to the sides of his stomach and my lips upon his lips. It was a long-lasting kiss.

"Ah!" he exhaled after our lips were separated.

Was he thinking the same as you guys were thinking when I said he invited me to his bedroom? Anyway, I didn't want that to happen right there, his mom was in the kitchen for God's sake!

So, I stood up and sat on the bed.

"That was intense" he said with a laugh.

I blushed "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry" he said coming to the bed.

Oh God! Had I created a monster? Was it going to be what you and he were thinking?

Okay, you know I like to overreact to things and situations, he just sat on the floor, in front of me.

"God, you're so beautiful" he said out of nowhere.

My body started to tremble and I totally blushed. He started laughing.

"You really aren't used to this, are you?" he asked me with curiosity.

I nodded "I know you must be used to those comments, that you are handsome and stuff."

"Maybe" he said with a conceited tone but then he couldn't help but laugh out loud "of course not! Do you really think I'm handsome?"

"You're handsome, you're hot, you're… you're stunning" I said with a little bit of excitement.

Now he blushed "Is this what people say about love? I mean, the butterflies in the stomach" he asked nervous and embarrassed.

"Are you feeling butterflies in your stomach?" I was surprised.

"Ever since I saw you two nights ago, wearing that nerdy outfit… I'm serious" he laughed "there was something about you, you were shining, those glasses, that sweater, I don't know what it was but, damn you looked so beautiful! The whole night I just wanted to make you smile with my stories…maybe it was a signal" he sighed, blushed "I also felt butterflies when you told me you were in love with me, after you surprised me with that kiss, I wasn't expecting you to tell me that or to kiss me like that, so at first it took me by surprise, it was shocking I have to say, like a bus running into me… but I wasn't scared to hear you were in love with me, for a moment I felt honored that someone as intelligent and as handsome as you was in love with me… the butterflies intensified… but at the same time I was paralyzed, I couldn't move, I know you were crying, I heard the tears, but I couldn't move… my oldest friend had just told me he was in love with me, it was definitely something huge" he sighed again, taking some air, now blushing more than ever "but in the end, I was feeling lucky, because I had realized that I was feeling something inside me, my heart was burning like it was trying to tell me something… like, go for it… that's when I could move again and I sat next to you… but I had no idea what to do or what to say, so I waited for you to stop crying… until the silence dominated the room, finally I realized what I wanted to do, I wanted to show you how much I had just realized I cared about you… and I kissed you, I felt like the butterflies were increasing exponentially" he stopped to think what he had just said "I know my math" he laughed "I felt comfortable, I felt safe, I felt really good, I had just fallen in love with you… no, I had just realized I was already in love with you" he shed some happy tears.

Everything he said… it was perfect. I sat on the floor next to him and I hugged him, I touched his hair, I caressed his face and his hairs, his lips and his neck. He said he was feeling safe next to me, that's all I had wanted to hear from him, but he said a lot more than I was expecting, he said he felt lucky but I was the lucky one; the boy I was in love with, was in love with me too! For an instant I felt like the luckiest guy in the world, and maybe I was, and maybe I was going to be the luckiest guy on Earth for a long time.

He laid his head over my shoulder as we held hands. It was a comfortable silence. We kissed again, and again, and once again. Every single time both of us was becoming more of an expert, and I just loved that.

"Would you like to take a walk?" I suggested.

"Yeah" he said with a smile.

I stood up and I helped him stand up. It was a bit cold outside, so he put on a sweater and he lend me one.

"Is this a trick for you to see my bare chest?" I laughed when he passed me the red sweater.

"You can put it over your t-shirt" he laughed.

"Nah!" I exclaimed taking off my t-shirt in front of him, I couldn't see his face but I knew that he was definitely staring at me. When I was shirtless and I could see him, he was looking away, blushed. Then I put on the sweater.

"Let's go!" he said in a rush, taking my hand and running with me out of his room, like he wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible… yeah, he was definitely thinking what you guys were thinking.

The park was not too crowded which was something we both liked, we felt more comfortable, we even were holding hands in our imagination and I didn't have to ask him that, I just knew he was holding my hand in his thoughts just like I was holding his in mine.

We talked about nothing but at the same time we talked about everything. He was really curious in my experiments so I told him pretty much everything about them. I wanted to ask him why he had decided to go to Alola next but then before we knew we would be talking about him leaving and I would be crying… so, I didn't touch that subject.

"This is so crazy" he said out of nowhere as we were walking below a big blanket of trees.

I knew what he was talking about (were our minds connected or what?).

"Yeah" I smiled and I suddenly stroked his hair.

He didn't stop me, even if we were in public (yeah, I know there were like 5 other people around us, but still!). He even smiled at me, looking me from the 3 inches of height difference we had.

That morning was pretty much about talking and doing non-special stuff, but we both enjoyed the moment. We got back to his house and had lunch, Delia cooked this delicious soup and she made a blueberry pie which I totally loved! I even asked her the recipe (I wasn't a good cooker but I could make Tracey bake that pie for me anytime!).

We decided to go to a more public place after lunch, we headed to the central plaza (there were like 15 people there but it was still more than the 5 people who were in the park that morning). There were some shops around the plaza, nothing too fancy, Pallet Town wasn't really big. We knew we weren't going to buy anything but we still entered all the stores just to take a look. Then I learned something I didn't know about him when we entered the small music store.

"Seriously? You a fan of rap?" I asked when I saw him making his way to the rap CDs.

I hadn't expected Ashy-boy to be a rap kind of guy, I totally expected him to be a pop kind of guy (am I really labeling him because of his music taste? Me? The person who totally hates labels? Meh…).

"Why does that surprise you?" he asked me in a serious tone, he still laughed though.

"I don't know" I didn't know that to say, I was just surprised, that was it.

"What kind of music are you into?" he asked me curious.

"I don't really listen to music that much, but I guess I'm a ballad guy" I said ashamed.

"Interesting" he smiled.

"What are you really thinking?"

"Nothing, I swear" he laughed, I knew he was lying.

Then, in the middle of the store (there were like 4 people around) I grabbed him and tickled him in his stomach and neck.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he laughed so hard.

"Do you want that CD?" I asked looking at the CD in his hand.

"Yeah, I think I'll buy it later, I didn't bring any money."

"Don't worry about that" I took the CD off his hand and went to the cashier to pay for it.

"Gary!" he exclaimed following me.

"How much is it?" I asked the cashier.

"You don't have to buy it for me" he said blushed.

"7 dollars" the cashier responded. I gave her ten bucks.

"I don't have to but I want to" I smiled at him.

The cashier gave me the change and a small bag with the CD inside.

"Thank you for your purchase, have a nice day" she smiled.

I gave Ashy boy the bag and we got out the store.

"Thank you!" he hugged me out of a sudden, out in the plaza with 15 people around us, I was so nervous! This was really happening! Ok, Oak, calm down, none of that people even looked your way when Ash hugged you.

It was around mid-afternoon when we had finished checking all the stores.

"Wanna go see a movie, Ashy-boy?" I winked at him.

Even Pallet Town had a small movie theatre (it only opened from 5pm to 10pm and only had one movie room so they showed just two movies a day but it was nice for the people who didn't want to go all the way to Viridian City just to watch a movie, like me and Tracey, or for people from Viridian City who wanted a quieter place to watch a movie).

"I'd love to!"

We got in time for the first film, I told you it was only one movie room so we didn't have many choices to decide; but it was a comedy movie, pure comedy, not romantic comedy (which I think was the best that could happen because a drama movie would have make things weird between us, because he was leaving the next day, that was enough drama for our lives at that moment and we didn't need a movie to give us more drama to worry about).

And for your information, we did watch the movie! It was about some guy… who went somewhere… and did this great thing that made us all laugh and the ending was… and the ending was amazing! Okay! We kissed and held hands the entire movie but that was it!

It was already dark when we got out of the movie theater, it was around 7:00pm. We were hungry so we went back to the central plaza and we bought some hotdogs from this guy Jeremy who made the best hot dogs in Kanto! I'm not kidding, whenever Tracey and I could, we came to the small hot dog truck and ate all the hot dogs we could!

Yeah, I know this wasn't a romantic dinner at all, but I knew Ash would totally love it because the hot dogs were delicious! He wasn't a guy who would eat in a restaurant for being fancy, he would eat in any restaurant just with the condition that the food was delicious. I had two hot dogs and he had three.

After that, it was around 8:00pm, the day was coming to an end but neither of us wanted it to end. Now the talking about him leaving seemed inevitable. But we would avoid it as long as we could.

"I wanna show you some place" I told him leaving the truck.

"Okay" he smiled, following me.

We walked until we left the town and we were near the forest to the north end.

"Are you going to kill me in the woods?" he asked with a laugh.

"This way, we're really close" I took his hand and made him follow me.

We eventually arrived at Pallet Town's highest hill. It was a hill, about 100 meters tall, from where you could see the entire town. I knew he had been to that hill lots of times, it was the first place he would pass when coming back to Pallet, but I wanted to be there with him.

"I've been here but, I hadn't realized how beautiful the scenery really is" he said with sparkling eyes, sitting in the grass.

I sat beside him, smiling, and I put my head over his shoulder. We held hands. There we were, under the night sky, under the stars. I wanted to freeze that exact moment, I didn't want it to stop or to end.

"We're going to make it work" he said after a very comfortable silence.

I trusted him. Now I felt safer about us, I wasn't fully sure that it was going to be easy, but I wanted to try.

"Yeah" I smiled, my head still over his shoulder "you can call me anytime you arrive at a Pokémon Centre and stuff."

"Actually, it's better than that" he said and that intrigued me.

"Better?" I asked full of curiosity.

"I'll be staying in the same town for six months, I'll even go to school, I'll have a room in a house and that, there's no Pokémon League in Alola, not yet, so there are no gyms and stuff, I don't have to travel very much."

I knew nothing about Alola, just that it had some very interesting Pokémon variants and that it was a beachy region, but that's all I knew. Now that Ashy told me that he was going to stay in the same town most of the time, I believed fully that we would make our relationship work.

"My mom's coming too" he revealed.

"Now, that's unfair! You're taking her delicious dishes from me!" I exclaimed, surprised and acting mad.

He laughed.

"I'm sure she'll take care of you, just don't get in trouble, okay?"

"I can't promise you that" he laughed again.

"Okay, just try."

"I'll try."

We just stayed there for another hour or two. He didn't want to go home yet, so he walked me to my house.

"Mind if I stay the night?" he asked me with the perfect tone, the perfect blush in his face and his hands inside his pockets in a so perfect way.

So he stayed, in my bedroom, we still had a lot to enjoy of our relationship before he left the next morning.

And whatever happened that night in my bedroom… it's none of your business.

* * *

Coming in January 2017:

Gary and Ash's story continues in **Interruption**

From Tracey's point of view!


End file.
